The girl who lived
by writer1900
Summary: Andromeda Tonks, a Auror social worker specializing in magical abused children from the muggle world, is given the hardest case of her life: Lily Potter, presumed dead twin of Harry Potter, has been found alive, raised by a mysteriously evil man. Can Andi get through to the abused girl and give her a normal life, or is this girl too unique to be anything but extraordinary?
1. Chapter 1

If you asked anyone, Andromeda Tonks was cool as a cucumber, and she prided herself on being no calmer and more collected than when under lots of pressure. This was why she was so good at her job, and why she loved it so much.

Andi (as she utterly refused to have anyone close to her refer to her by her full name) worked for the Aurors as a social worker for children. Her job was one of the tougher ones, as she was responsible for helping young muggle-born wizard children who needed to be removed from their homes before they turned eleven transition into the wizarding world, and vice versa (for squib kids).

She had seen the worst and most gruesome of everything, or so she thought - from kids who had accidentally killed their parents with accidental magic to squibs who couldn't fight back from their parents' magical abuse to frail children who had gone mad after realizing the existence of magic.

 _And_ she had fixed them all and given all those kids a better life.

But never, ever, _ever,_ had Andi ever seen something as horrific as this particular case.

"I can't do this," said Andi, swallowing back vomit. She barely succeeded, plopping down into the chair her supervisor Dan Smith kept across from the desk in his office. Andi practically threw the parchments of the case file onto his desk.

Dan's mouth drew a thin, hard line across his weathered face. "I'm sorry Andi, but you're the best one for the job. We need someone who we know won't wimp out halfway through the case, and you're the best worker in the department."

Andi shook her head, pleading. "Dan, you know I've never backed down from a case before. I honestly don't think I can handle this one - it's too big, way too dark. I don't want to let this kid down after all she's been through, I absolutely cannot be assigned to this case,"

Apologetically, Dan picked the file folder back up off the desk. "Andi, I'm sorry, but we need you. I know you can handle this, you're the only one that can. We - _she_ \- needs you." He placed the file folder back into her hands as he rose and walked out of the room. "Good luck, Agent Tonks," he called back as he closed the door behind him. "You'll need it."

Andi breathed out, then in again, then out again. "I can do this," she said to herself out loud. "A child needs me." Her hands closed around the file folder.

"James and Lily Potters' child needs me,"

* * *

The first thing Andi noticed about the house she walked into was the smell. Among the stink of blood, vomit, feces and alcohol, it reeked strongly of death.

Andi swallowed, taking a deep breath to calm herself, which only resulted in her choking in a most undignified manner due to deeply inhaling the horrific stench.

One of her partners chuckled without much humour as he could as he patted her on the back to help her out. "Don't choke now, Agent," he mumbled, looking around the dim hallway. "We're all counting on you,"

She shot him a look. "But no pressure," she muttered. "Sorry," he said, looking away to examine some broken glass covered in blood that looked to be the remnants of an empty picture frame.

"Hey!" a voice called out from somewhere deep within the house. "We found the kid!"

Suddenly another agent came barrelling out from around a corner. "Agent Tonks?" He said, and Andi straightened up and swallowed her fear. "You're gonna want to see this," the Agent, who Andi recognized as the new guy, Agent Strauss, beckoned to her.

"Of course," Andi said, putting on her professional face.

Of course, since she was a metamorphmagus, this literally meant that her face transformed.

When working, she liked to stick to a professional look with shoulder length bobbed, soft brown hair, a thin yet soft figure, and rather feminine features that included kind, upturned eyes and a thick-lipped, perpetually smiling mouth. Andi had found that traumatized children often preferred the kind and motherly look, since this was usually what they craved in their lives.

"Let's go," she said, following in step behind Agent Strauss as she smoothly transformed in under a second, flanked by two other backup agents. The house was much deeper and bigger on the inside than it appeared from the outside, which Andi instantly assumed was a result of magic.

After what felt like an eternity of walking in silence, they stopped in front of a rickety looking door. Upon closer inspection, Andi noticed with disgust what looked like fingernail marks clawed into the lower half of the wood.

In her mind, Andi couldn't help but hear the tortured screams that must have accompanied the scratches. Looking around at the equally disgusted and terrified agents around her, Andi knew she was not alone in this thought. Fear tingled through her entire body. There was something about this house that was not quite right.

"The girl's in there," Strauss said quietly. "She won't look at or talk to anybody. She's so traumatized that she won't even try to run away, just shake uncontrollably. We know she can understand us because she will do as you ask, but we don't know if she cane even make sound,"

Andi nodded, taking this information in. "Do you think her vocal cords have been damaged?"

Strauss shook his head. "No, she was whimpering quietly to herself before she noticed us. I think she's just been beaten brutally for making noise."

"Alright," Andi said, smoothing her clothes down one more time. "I'm going in,"


	2. Chapter 2

Lily sat in the corner of the barren room, rocking back and forth weakly as she wrapped her arms around her knees. She could feel and see her whole body shaking but she did not know how to stop it from doing that.

Her head hurt more than usual as a result of all the noisy, unfamiliar people coming in and out of the room today, being confusing. They were being confusing because they had not yet hurt her, which was what people had always done without fail up until these people.

It made her confused which made her scared, since she was forced to sit and wait for them to hurt her, and this gave her time to think about all the ways they could hurt her and what they were going to do to her.

What was even more confusing was how they spoke to her. People were supposed to yell and scream insults or else tell you to get in the stocks or to put your hand somewhere you didn't want to put it or to stop screaming. _These_ highly confusing people, however, asked in gentle voices what her name was or where her parents were.

Lily did not understand why they were asking such stupid questions instead of just doing what people normally do, which was of course beating her and whipping her and having sex with her and waving their strange sticks at her that caused her more pain.

Right now, though, she had been temporarily left alone in the room, and as always she appreciated the quiet and the relative safety that came with there not being any other people present.

Lily tried to slow her breathing so that she wouldn't cry. Since she wasn't sure when the people were going to come back, it was a good idea not to cry so that she would not be beaten.

Suddenly the familiar ominous creak of the door cut through the room's silence, followed by gentle footsteps. Lily did not move from her position or look up at who had entered, though she did stop rocking back and forth.

The footsteps grew louder, as did the pounding of Lily's heart, and then someone sat down next to her in the corner with their arms wrapped around their knees as well, though not as tightly and protectively as Lily's.

The person said nothing and did not touch Lily either. For about five minutes, the two sat in the corner, unmoving and silent.

After a time, Lily grew restless and curious and confused and looked up to see who was being so strange as to just sit there quietly. A smiling woman with sad, sympathetic eyes looked back at her, head cocked to look at her better. "Hello there," the kind-looking woman said gently.

Lily blinked hard, unsure how to respond. What did this woman plan on doing to her? Why was she just sitting there? Panic rose in Lily as her confusion grew.

"I'm Agent Tonks, but you can call me Andi if you want," the lady said quietly, still smiling nicely.

Lily didn't move, but trembled hard uncontrollably.

The smile on Agent Tonks or Andi if Lily wanted's face slowly fell and she looked at Lily with a concerned gaze. "What's up?" she asked genially, cocking her head again.

Lily sharply looked up, terrified of what she was sure the nice-seeming lady had planted on the ceiling. A knife, poised to fall onto her head? Another person, grinning down at her evilly? Her father, perhaps, Lily thought with a shudder? The possibilities raced through her panicked mind.

But there was nothing there.

Pleasant laughter filled the room, the best and most confusing sound Lily had ever heard. The laughter she was used to was of the evil variety - the cackle of a person who wished her utmost pain. This laughter, however, was pleasant and did not seem to be directed towards Lily in a mean way.

Agent Tonks or Andi was the one laughing. "I didn't mean up literally," she said kindly, "I meant what's up with _you,_ " and she gingerly ran her fingers over Lily's head softly to bring her gaze back down from the ceiling. Lily tensed up immediately out of habit, although she did not want the rubbing to stop. It was the first touch she had ever felt that did not lead directly to pain.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to touch you if you didn't want me to," Agent Tonks said, sounding genuinely apologetic to Lily's shocked ears. "Did you want me to stop?"

Lily felt her face grow hot as she looked meekly up at the woman, shaking her head no once, quickly. Agent Tonks grinned happily. "Alright then, I won't stop. I'm glad I didn't hurt you," the agent said, pulling Lily in closer towards her so that Lily was resting against her body as she continued gently massaging the young girl.

Lily did not know how to react. She was still scared, but she also really wanted to be able to trust Agent Tonks (or Andi if Lily wanted, she remembered). Lily had never had someone to trust before, and craved the comfort that this woman was now giving to her.

However, Lily knew that the possibility of Agent Tonks hurting her was still there, and a wave of sadness hit her. She did not want to be betrayed by the first person to ever show her kindness. So, Lily gathered her courage and decided to find out if that was going to happen. She decided that if the woman didn't beat her for speaking now, then that meant that Lily should trust her, for a little while at least.

In her head she counted to three, and then looked up at the agent, who was still gently rubbing her - an incredibly relaxing feeling, Lily noticed.

Agent Tonks smiled back down at her when she noticed Lily watching her. "What's up?" she asked again, gently, and this time Lily took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

It took her a few tries to actually speak once she had decided to since she was so terrified, but eventually, trembling so hard her vision shook, Lily managed to quietly spit out, "Are... a-are you going to hurt me?" The words were so quiet that Lily herself barely heard them, but it was loud enough for Agent Tonks.

"Of course not, sweetheart. I will never, ever, _ever,_ hurt you, ok?" The agent, with a deep sadness in her eyes, pulled Lily onto her lap and made direct eye contact. For the first time since Lily had seen her she looked completely serious, but still kind and gentle. "I need you to understand that, ok? I'm going to make sure that nobody - _nobody -_ ever hurts you ever again,"

That was too much for Lily to handle, and she burst into tears.

At this, Agent Tonks stood up, cradling Lily close to her chest. She wiped away Lily's tears and rocked her back and forth, murmuring soft things to Lily, and Lily had never felt more confused in her entire life, but all of her hurts hurt just a little bit less.


	3. Chapter 3

"Shall I get you to sign for my raise before or after I go and check up on my case?" Andi asked her supervisor with her signature good-natured grin.

Even after all that she had seen today with her newest case, Andi was the eternal optimist, and it had taken her less than five minutes to bounce back to her old self. Besides, she knew that all of her cases had seen and been through much, much worse - especially the Potter girl whom she had just met.

Dan Smith groaned into a face palm melodramatically. "I'd better just give it to you now... before you decide to raise it even more when you get back," he chuckled, signing the page Andi had put on his desk and vanishing it away to a safety vault somewhere with a click of his fingers.

"I just want you to know that you deserve every galleon for what you're doing," he called after Andi as she walked out of his office and towards the floor's apparating room. "I know," she called back, "And most likely more,"

"Keep it up and you'll have my job," the supervisor chortled to an empty room.

* * *

Andi materialized just outside St. Mungo room 214; Lily Potter's room, since patient rooms had apparating charms on them. The door was slightly ajar, and she could here soft murmurs from inside. Andi furrowed her brow, wondering if that tone of voice was just a precaution for the small and frightened girl, or if it meant something more sinister.

Well, Andi thought, there was only one was to find out. "Knock knock," she chirped with a friendly smile, sticking her head into the room as she quietly knocked on the door.

A pillowy, bustling nurse turned from tending to a small cot in the middle of the room. "You must be the social worker," she greeted with a smile. Andi noticed she had a very pronounced accent - somewhere African, she presumed. Sierra Leone, maybe? "Agent Tonks?" the nurse read off her clipboard.

"Please, call me Andi," Andi said, "And how is my latest young charge doing?"

Looking over at the cot, Andi saw with relief that the young girl was asleep. She had been worried that Lily would be in too much shock to get the sleep she desperately needed. "And how is my latest young charge doing?"

The nurse's expression could only be described as some mixture of confusion and utter shock. Moving closer so that she was out of earshot of her patient, she murmured. "I don't know where this girl came from, I don't know what in _hell_ happened to her, but let me just tell you, it is a miracle she's still breathing,"

"How bad is it?" Andi asked, pulling out her own clipboard to take notes.

The nurse shook her head in some kind of twisted awe. "I did a checkup spell on her when she came in - you know, the standard one... and judging by my results, it's not possible for her to even be alive,"

Andi's brow furrowed in concern. "She's definitely one of the more extreme cases I've seen,"

" _One_ of the more extreme?!" The nurse cried. "If there has ever been a more abused child - no, _person_ \- then I want off this planet! Do you know how starved and beaten she is? Her organs are almost as prominent as her ribcage through her skin! She's got so little muscle left I don't even know how she _can_ move! She-"

Andi put an arm on the woman's shoulder to calm her growing hysteria as she built up steam. "I'm glad she's in the hands of someone who shows enough concern for me to able to trust them with her," Andi said, using her social worker voice, "But you need to be quiet; you'll wake her,"

"I'm awake," a tiny voice whispered just loud enough to be heard. Andi looked over to see Lily struggling to sit up in her cot. She and the nurse rushed right over, where Andi took a seat next to the bed as the nurse began tending to her patient again.

"Shh, lie back down, you need rest," the nurse murmured to the girl without a trace of any of the anger that had been there only seconds ago in her voice. Clearly, Andi observed with respect, this woman was very devoted to her work.

Lily did as the nurse asked, though she clearly wanted to protest. Andi wondered if this girl had ever protested in her life. One thing was for sure - the nurse was right about her condition. Andi could barely see her bright green eyes from behind the deep, sunken hollows of her starved cheekbones that they rested in.

"Hey there, Lily, what's up?" Andi asked the girl gently, being sure to use a quiet voice so as not to frighten the girl. Lily only stared back, clearly unused to being spoken to other than in the form of commands.

"I just need to ask you a few questions, is that ok?" Lily, after a few seconds, gave a quick nod in response.

"Great," Andi smiled. "Thank you, Lily." Andi made sure to positively reinforce the girl whenever possible to try and lessen her fear.

"So..." Andi scanned through the checklist of standard questions on her clipboard. "Do you feel comfortable responding verbally to my questions, or would you rather just nod or shake your head to some simple, yes-or-no questions?"

Lily nodded once, looking up at Andi with a fearful and confused expression. "So, the second option?" Andi clarified, not very surprised. Lily nodded again.

"Alright, perfect. Let's get started. First off, here's an easy one: can you verify that your name is Lily Potter?" Andi asked, looking up after reading the question to check for the girl's response.

Lily, looking exceptionally confused, shook her head no. Andi blinked back, surprised. "No? You're name's not Lily Potter?" Andi checked her sheet, checked the DNA test that had clarified that this girl was, in fact, James and Lily Potter's daughter, Harry Potter's twin sister who had supposedly died after the Voldemort incident. Everything was positive.

"Are you saying that you're first name isn't Lily?" Andi asked. It wouldn't be too surprising if the mystery man who had raised Lily had changed her name. He was posing as her father, after all, and his motives were currently unclear, so he could have changed her name for whatever purpose.

But Lily shook her head no again. "So, your name is Lily?" A nod. "Is your last name the same as your dad's, then?" Another nod.

Andi was stumped. She knew this was the Potter girl, but she supposed it was possible for her kidnapper to have changed her last name to match his own. Andi decided to just take the surprise information and use it to track down this indescribably evil man, who had apparently disappeared from the house days before they had rescued Lily.

"Ok, Lily, I know we had an agreement, but I am very confused. I thought your name was Lily Potter, but apparently that's not right. Do you mind telling me what your name actually is?"

Lily nodded, then took a deep breath to gather the courage to speak. "Lily Riddle," she whispered.

Andi's eyes widened. The nurse, who was still tending to Lily, looked up at Andi in shock. And suddenly Andi knew that this already difficult case was going to get much, much harder.


	4. Chapter 4

Two weeks later, Andi sat in the meeting room of her office at the head of the table. Next to her sat Nakiti Gibbon, Lily's healer who Andi had originally thought was the nurse. Occupying the other head of the table was her supervisor Dan Smith.

Usually, Andi only had to discuss the details of her cases with her supervisor, the child's healer, and their foster or adoptive parents (later on).

Today, however, there were some unexpected visitors. A few Hogwarts professors - Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape also sat quietly around the table. Not to mention Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic himself - her supervisor's supervisor. Andi noticed Dan looked a little pale sitting next to him.

All six attendants to the meeting listened raptly as Andi recounted the details of her case, paling and gasping as they heard the gruesome details, some even gagging a bit when Nakiti filled them in on the results of her tests.

When she had finished, ending off by recounting what the girl thought her name was, apprehensive silence filled the room.

Fudge was the first to speak. "Thank you for enlightening us, Agent Tonks," he said, sounding worried. "If what you have said is true, this is quite worrisome,"

Taken aback, Andi exclaimed, "Of course it's true!" before she could stop herself. Fudge nodded apologetically. "I did not mean to accuse you in any way that what you've said is false," he said, "rather than I wished it to be,"

Snape, somewhat surprisingly to Andi, was the next to speak. She was a bit confused as to why he was even at the meeting, although she supposed that he was one of the people closest to Dumbledore.

"I thought the Potter girl was presumed dead," he said in his nasally tone, with a slight edge to his voice. "I was at the house myself; only the boy twin remained,"

"And did you ever find her body?" Andi shot back, unusually forcefully for her.

Snape paled as he thought about it, and did not respond. McGonagall chose to speak up at this point. "I presume the girl is currently being watched under 24 hour supervision?"

Nakiti responded to this question, bristling. "It would be downright irresponsible to leave her alone for even a second in the state she's in. She is on the edge of death every second!"

McGonagall stiffened slightly at this response. "I meant only that we must guard her closely; clearly the blood wards that worked to keep Harry hidden from him did not have the same effect on Lily,"

"Actually, I tend to disagree," the wise, thoughtful voice that could only belong to Dumbledore cut through the tension in the room. Everyone turned to him, confused.

"Healer Gibbons mentioned that it should not be possible for Lily to be alive," he half-said, half-asked. Nakiti nodded in confirmation.

"I believe that she was kept alive by the blood wards," Dumbledore stated. "In the same way that Voldemort could not kill Harry, he must not have been able to kill the other twin either, though Merlin knows he must have tried, judging by the state she is currently in,"

When Dumbledore said this, Andi's blood ran cold. "You think he only raised her so he could continually try to kill her?"

McGonagall put her hands on her chest as she thought about this. "As horrible as it is to think about, that makes sense," she said, "He failed to kill one twin and was on the verge of death as a result. In his desperate state to fulfil the pro-"

Dumbledore coughed suddenly, clearly cutting her off, and Snape gave her the death glare. This confused Andi, which always made her very curious. What secret were the professors keeping?

McGonagall flushed, then continued, "...I mean, in his desperate state, why not take the other one and try again later? In the relative safety hidden away, she could be kept for as long as needed until you-know-who recovered enough to try again, and again, until he succeeded."

"And if he didn't succeed?" Andi managed to choke out.

Not only did Andi feel directly responsible for the girl now that she was in charge of Lily's well-being, she had also grown very protective of her young case. Lily, though heavily abused and frightened, was quite sweet once she got comfortable, and she was slowly getting more and more comfortable around Andi.

"That is not an option for you-know-who," McGonagall said with disgust. "He would simply try again and again until he succeeded. Clearly, he got so desperate so as to try muggle methods of murder such as starvation and knifing, as well as whatever other... creative methods he could think up,"

"The dark lord does like to have fun," Snape joked humourlessly, without emotion.

"And I suppose his penchant for _fun_ accounts for the brutal evidence of sexual abuse on a girl barely eight years old?" Nakiti practically snarled at him. She, too, had grown quite protective for her patient.

Snape glared at her. "In the mindset of the dark lord," he practically whispered, "one takes advantage of every opportunity available," his frightful gaze shifted from Nakiti, who had broken eye contact, to Dumbledore. "And one does get... lonely being in his position."

Andi, at this point, felt physically sick. "I need a calming drought," she groaned, louder than she intended. "And another raise,"

"Please, not again," Dan cried, "my wallet can't handle it. Can't I just promote you?"

This was enough to relieve most of the tension that had been steadily building in the room, and everyone suddenly burst into laughter. It was too much, all this serious talk of horrible things, and now even the mildest bit of humour was enough to set them all off. Even Snape managed a thin smile.

"But getting back to the matter at hand," McGonagall said as the laughter died down, "how are we going to ensure that you-know-who doesn't try to recapture Lily Potter? His frustration and anger towards her can only have grown after eight years of her thwarting his attempts to kill her,"

"I don't think that's something we need to worry about for at least a few years now," Dumbledore reassured the room. "Whatever happened in the days before she was rescued, something horrible enough must have happened for him to be completely drained of his power. Otherwise the charms he had casted on her to prevent us from finding her or even realizing her existence would not have failed."

"Do you think that this time he was actually killed, the way we thought had happened last time?" Fudge asked, hopeful.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I have reason to believe otherwise," he stated simply, without providing this reason.

"In that case, what should I do to ensure Lily's protection?" Andi asked. "I am in charge of her well-being, after all, and it wouldn't be good for her recovery to be bounced around from foster home to foster home all the time once she's released from St. Mungo's every time there's a hint of attack from you-know-who,"

"Actually," Dumbledore said, "I believe she would be best off at Hogwarts,"

"Well, obviously she would be sent there once she turned eleven," McGonagall responded, "but for now she's just past turning eight years old. Where should she go in the mean time?"

Dumbledore thought for a few seconds before saying, "I supposed she could be raised at Hogwarts until she became old enough to attend."

"Absolutely not!" Andi and Snape, of all people, exclaimed at the same time. They looked at each other briefly, each as confused as the other, before Andi continued.

"She's barely ever interacted with _one_ person, and fearful of just about everything right now. How do you think she would react if as soon as she was released from the hospital, barely able to function on her own, only to be dropped into a magic school filled with rowdy children and busy teachers with hardly any time to look after her and give her the attention she needs and deserves. Not to mention, where will she go during holidays and summer vacation when everyone goes home? And of course-"

"Well in that case," Dumbledore cut her off, his eyes twinkling, "why don't you take care of her?"

Andi tried to formulate a response. She would love to let the girl live with her - she had dreamed about adopting every single child who had been under her care throughout her career. After all, she trusted no one more than herself to be able to give all those children the love they deserved.

But, she also knew that she couldn't just adopt every child she worked with. Not to mention, how would she keep her professionalism in handling them while also trying to parent them? As a social worker she had no qualms sharing the private details of her cases with her superiors when needed, but as a parent or guardian how would she decide what was professional information and what was personal family matters?

Besides, there had to be some rule of regulations against social workers taking their cases home with them for more than a night.

And then she heard the words that she had not been expecting. "If it's alright with you, Agent Tonks, I think we could make that work," said Cornelius Fudge.

Dan put his hands to his head and sighed. "I'll get that second raise," he said, defeated.

"So, Agent Tonks?" Dumbledore asked. "What do you say?" All eyes in the room turned to her.

But Andi was no longer listening. She was too busy excitedly planning how to tell her daughter Nymphadora about her new sister.


	5. Chapter 5

Almost a month later and six weeks after she had first arrived, Lily was being prepared to leave the hospital.

Nakiti checked her over one last time, though it was hard to see the results through her tears. "I'm going to miss you, little flower," she exclaimed, messing her young patient's hair playfully.

Lily looked up at her healer, confused. "But... I'm not leaving yet, am I?" she said in a volume just above a whisper, which was as loud as she got so far.

"You are, little one," Nakiti said with an affectionate smile. "You're healthy enough now, and you've been stuck in here far too long. It's time you got out of here and saw the world!"

With a playful twinkle in her eye, Lily said, "But I can already see it from the window." She pointed to the square of glass overlooking a street.

"Don't play smarty-pants with me," Nakiti chuckled, bopping her on the nose with one finger. "That's not even a large window. Now, do you have everything you need?"

"My potions, my toothbrush and hairbrush, and my jumper," Lily recited obediently, pointing in order to her bottles of potions which were lined up neatly on the bedside table, her toothbrush and hairbrush which were in her pockets, and raising her arms to show the worn, hugely oversized grey jumper she was wearing. When she stood, it went all the way down to her ankles, it was so large for her.

Nakiti pinched the thin fabric disapprovingly. "Right, first thing you need to do when you get out of here is go and buy yourself a new set of clothes."

Lily cocked her head. "Why? I like this jumper. I've always had it," she pointed out.

Nakiti wrinkled her nose. "Exactly. It's far too old for you to keep, and it smells like high hell - and don't tell Andi I said that, mind you, little flower," she interrupted herself, "I see that look in your eyes. It's impossible to miss anything in them with that bright colour,"

"And what colour is that?" Lily asked honestly. In the few times she had seen herself in a mirror, she had not thought to look at what colour her eyes were. Usually she was focused on her starved figure or the deep, bloody cuts that ran along her body. Luckily those were starting to scar and fade now.

"Why, it would be impossible to say they were any colour but green, they're so bright," Nakiti responded, admiring Lily's eyes. "I would know, I've examined them so many times... hang on," Nakiti suddenly brought her face much closer to better examine Lily's eyes.

Suddenly Nakiti looked very confused. "It appears I was wrong, little one," she said, looking closely. "Apparently, your eyes are dark brown. Have they always been that colour?"

Lily shrugged. "Maybe you need to get _your_ brown eyes checked," she said, the twinkle that meant she was joking returning to her apparently brown eyes. Lily had yet to smile, she had been so traumatized, but Nakiti had noticed she had other ways of expressing her emotions.

"Listen here, spunky," Nakiti began, poking Lily gently in her sides and causing her to squirm playfully. But Nakiti never managed to finish her threat, because just then Andi appeared in the doorway.

"Knock knock," she said with a smile as she stuck her head in the door. As always, Andi was always delighted to see Lily come out of her shell a little bit more, begin to play a little bit more.

"Oi," Nakiti said when she noticed Andi coming in, "You'd better watch this one. She's getting spunkier by the minute,"

Andi grinned. "I'll keep all spunkiness in check," she joked.

Lily, who had been busy escaping the wiggling fingers of Nakiti, didn't realize that Andi was in the room until she heard her voice. "Andi!" She cried in a happy whisper, jumping out of bed to come say hello.

"Hey there, Lily," Andi beamed down at the girl lovingly as she skipped over with her unusual gait.

Years of sitting still, on top of all the muscle deterioration from starvation, had caused Lily to only recently learn to walk properly, and she was still getting the hang of it. Because of this, she had a slightly unstable-looking skip to her step, and was a bit slower than normal, though she was quickly catching up with practise.

"Are you really taking me back today, Andi?" Lily asked as she looked up at her new guardian, her tiny voice shaking slightly with fear as she thought back to the home she had come from.

Although she was not looking forward to returning, Lily tried not to show her fear, and reminded herself all the times that Andi had told her she was not going to get hurt anymore.

Andi, though, was much too perceptive of her new foster child, and noticed this twinge of fear. She crouched down to Lily's level. "What's wrong? Don't you want to come with me?"

Lily looked down and avoided making eye contact with Andi as she nodded. "I want to come with you," she whispered, "but I'm scared to go back home,"

"Lily," Andi said, "Look at me." Lily looked up from the floor, and Andi could see the fear in her eyes. "I'm not taking you back to the home you came from. I'm taking you to your _new_ home, where you'll live with me. Does that sound ok?"

Lily's eyes widened. "Really?" Andi grinned. "Really," Lily's eyes sparkled with joy, and Andi could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile on the girl's face. "Now go say goodbye to Nakiti," Andi told her, rising. "She's done a lot for you,"

"You're going to come and visit us all the time, though, right?" Lily worriedly asked Nakiti, who grinned down at her. "If it's alright with your new guardian,"

"Andi, is it alright if-"

"Yes, of course it's alright if Nakiti comes to visit," Andi assured her.

"Ok, good," said Lily, looking almost comically relieved and causing both Andi and Nakiti to burst out laughing.

Lily looked up at them, confused. "What's so funny?"

Instead of answering, Andi just said, "Come on, Lily, it's time to go home."


	6. Chapter 6

"Woah," Lily gasped, looking around the Tonks household for the first time.

Although not a huge house, it was not small either, and it felt perfect amounts cozy and bright & spacious without feeling overly empty or cramped.

There was a roaring fireplace in the living room that filled the whole house with a comfortable warmth, as well as creating a beautiful ambient light.

Lily breathed deeply and noticed that even the smell of the house was different than any environment she'd been in before.

Unlike the rank, ripe smell of death at her old house nor the singeing antiseptic smell of the hospital, this house smelled of fire (from the fireplace) and also vaguely of something sweet that Lily had never smelled before, which she would later learn was chocolate.

Andi grinned as she watched Lily take it all in. "Wanna see your new room?" she asked. Lily's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "I have a room?"

"Of course you have a room," Andi chastised playfully. "C'mon, I'll show it to you,"

* * *

Before she saw her room, Lily thought that she had never seen anything as nice as the Tonks house. Her new bedroom quickly proved that wrong.

The hospital room Lily had stayed in for the past six weeks was twice the size of the barren, closet-sized room she had grown up in, but this room was four times the size of her hospital room, a fact Lily noticed with wonder.

Her room was on the top floor of the house in a converted attic, so the wooden ceilings sloped down and gave the room a cozy feel. Each wall where the ceiling was at its lowest was lined with windows that suddenly showed Lily what Nakiti had meant when she had commented on how small the hospital window was.

Along the back wall there was a door that Andi said led to Lily's very own bathroom, with its own bathtub, sink, toilet, and even a mirror. Lily couldn't wait to examine herself, remembering her's and Nakini's discussion about her eye colour earlier that morning.

The windows flooded the room with natural light, but there was also a row of lightbulbs that hung from the ceiling that Andi said was for at night when it was dark outside.

The walls were a pretty, pale yellow that Lily instantly decided was her new favourite colour, and there was a fun, cheery striped round rug in the middle of the floor, even though the floor was already carpeted. There were also a few beanbag chairs in fun colours around the carpet.

Lily noticed with glee that she had her very own desk (with a spinning chair!) in the corner, as well as a large dresser, a rectangular bin that Lily couldn't identify and even a bookshelf which was filled with clothbound books! Even though was only just beginning to learn how to read due to her never having access to books before, Andi promised to teach her and to read all the books to her until she learned.

But perhaps Lily's favourite part of the room was the bed.

At first glance, it looked sort of like a hammock/mattress hybrid, since the edges curled up as if it was hung from the ceiling, and there was no bed frame, although there was a wide variety of pillows and even a fluffy blanket that was covered in fake, soft-looking pink fur.

However, Lily quickly realized that the bed was not hanging from the ceiling but _floating!_ In the air!

"It's an air mattress," Andi explained. "I didn't have enough time to get you a real bed, but I didn't think you would mind,"

Lily most certainly did not mind.

"Besides, this is one of the best ones on the market," Andi told her. "It will never fall no matter how much weight is on it, and it's designed for comfort. Why don't you go try it out and see if you like it?"

Lily rushed over to the bed and clambered on. It wasn't very high off the ground, certainly no more than any normal bed - it was just high enough to blow Lily's young mind. Plus, Andi said once she got a little older and got her own wand she would be able to change the height as much as she wanted.

Lily climbed onto the bed, practically sinking into its softness. She lay back and Andi laughed happily watching Lily enjoy herself so much.

Then Lily noticed something strange among the pillows, and pulled it out for examination. "What's this?" she asked, and Andi walked over to see what she was referring to.

"That's a stuffed rabbit," Andi told her. Lily's eyes widened and she dropped the rabbit. "A real rabbit? Is it dead?"

Andi smiled softly. "No, silly. It's a toy rabbit. Have you never seen a toy before?" She picked up the rabbit and handed it to Lily, who shook her head.

"Well," Andi said, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Lily, "this one's for you, and there's a whole bunch more in that toy chest over there," Andi jerked her chin towards the rectangular box in the corner that Lily had been unable to identify. "Go on, check it out,"

Lily leaped off the bed and went over to the toy chest, opening it slowly. She looked inside the box, which was filled with toys, in awe, pulling them out one by one and examining each of them.

Lily pulled out a few more stuffed animals, including a bear, a dragon, and an elephant. Then she pulled out a toy witch on a broomstick that flew around the room when she released it. Paper cranes flew out of the box as well, and one of them even flew into Lily's dropped jaw.

Lily pulled out spinning tops and action figures and a deck of cards, all things that she had never even heard of before, much less seen and played with.

Lily couldn't even finish unloading the chest before she turned to face Andi, who was still sitting on the bed watching her.

Tears pricked at Lily's eyes. "These... these are all for me?" She choked out in a whisper. Andi's brow furrowed. "Of course they are," she said gently, and Lily broke down into sobs.

Andi rushed over and scooped the girl up into her arms. Even though she was eight and a half years old, she was the size of a small six year old. "What's wrong, Lily?" Andi asked, sitting on the floor against the toy chest with the girl in her lap, curled up against her.

"N-nothing," Lily mumbled through her tears. "Just... just..." she looked up at Andi, right into her eyes, barely believing any of this was even real. "Thank you," she whispered.

Andi's heart broke into two, then melted, then re-formed so it could melt again. Never in her entire career - no, life - had she ever seen a child so grateful to have toys. Every child was supposed to have toys.

"Of course, sweetheart," Andi said, cradling her new foster child close. "You deserve every single one,"


	7. Chapter 7

That evening, after Lily had had a few hours to adjust to her new house and her new room and her new toys, it was time for her to meet Andi's boyfriend, who was home from work.

Andi had told Lily all about her family and shown her pictures when she came to visit everyday at St Mungo's, so Lily already knew that she was going to have to meet them - though luckily Andi's daughter was away at a boarding school called Hogwarts, so Lily wouldn't have to worry about that for another few weeks.

But knowing something was a lot less scary than actually doing it, Lily thought to herself as she heard the floo roar and then an unfamiliar man's voice mingling with Andi's familiar one downstairs.

She hugged her new stuffed rabbit tightly as she heard footsteps, and then the door opened quietly and Andi stuck her head in. "Knock knock," she said with a gentle smile towards Lily. "Ready?"

Lily was anything but ready - but she knew better than to disregard a direct order. She'd be punished... although, Lily was starting to question that, since she hadn't been hurt since Andi had rescued her.

So, she followed Andi downstairs to meet Remus Lupin.

When they got downstairs, Remus was waiting in the living room, sitting on the couch. When she saw him, Lily hid behind Andi, even though Remus didn't look all that scary. In fact, he seemed pretty nice... but he was still terrifying to Lily.

"Lily, meet Remus Lupin, your new guardian," Andi said, putting a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder but not forcing her out in front. "And Remus, meet Lily Potter, your new foster daughter,"

Remus smiled kindly at the tiny figure cowering behind his girlfriend. "Hello, Lily Potter. It's lovely to meet you,"

"H-hello," came the minuscule reply from behind Andi, who grinned. She had not been expecting Lily to say anything to Lupin. To Remus, she mouthed, "She likes you," which earned her a grateful smile from Remus.

"Well Lily," Remus said to the room, being sure not to stare her down and frighten her even more, "while I certainly hope you can become comfortable with me, in the meantime I completely understand if you don't want to talk to me. No hard feelings,"

Lily, upon hearing this, felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her chest. She had been worried that Remus would make her stand there until he forced her to talk.

However, this sense of relief did not last long.

"Well, on that note, it's time for dinner!" Andi said cheerfully, "Ready to eat, Lily?"

Lily nodded so vigorously she almost fell over, before following the delectable smells coming from the kitchen and taking a seat at the table.


	8. Chapter 8

Lily woke up to the warm sunshine on her face and the delicious smell of pancakes coming from downstairs.

For a moment, she lay there with her eyes closed with a twinge of fear, feeling the comfy bed around her and the squishy stuffed rabbit in her arms, ensuring that this was all, in fact, real, and that when she opened her eyes she would see the wooden, sloped ceiling of her bedroom and not a dark, peeling wall covered with blood.

When she couldn't bear it anymore, Lily opened her eyes and was filled with euphoria to see her very own bedroom, filled with flying toys and cloth-bound books.

Excitedly, Lily jumped out of her very own bed for the third day in a row, ecstatic that this whole thing wasn't a dream.

Lily made her way downstairs to the kitchen, her stomach rumbling at the smell of freshly baked pancakes.

When she got to the kitchen, though, she paused, butterflies running through her stomach.

What if today Andi and Remus decided they didn't want her anymore? What if they were waiting for her in the kitchen... with her father? What if he was in the kitchen too, baiting her with delicious smells so he could take her back again and torture her?

Pushing down her fear, Lily silently peered into the kitchen from the doorway, looking around. From where she was situated, she could only see Andi and Remus, who were sitting at the kitchen table chatting.

That, however, was only marginally less scary. What if they didn't want to be bothered? What if they hated her and were just pretending to be nice? What if Remus turned into a wolf and ate her? Lily chastised herself internally, telling herself that she was being ridiculous, especially with that last one.

Lily was still hovering in the doorway when Andi noticed a small face peering out from behind the doorpost. "Good morning, Lily," she smiled over, cocking her head, "Come on in. Aren't you hungry?"

Lily was. She padded into the kitchen, tripping over her too-large socks and sweater, which went down to her ankles and long past her wrists.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked, and Lily nodded that she was as she stood up.

Andi just smiled, "Alright, that's it. We have to get you new clothes,"

Lily shrugged and dug into her pancakes.

Over breakfast, the trio made idle, sleepy chatter that flowed easily. Eventually, the topic changed to Andi's metamorphmagus. Playfully, she began rotating through multiple changes, ending with spiky purple hair.

Lily thought that was very cool. "Can I make my hair purple, too?" she asked hopefully.

Andi and Remus grinned down at her. "If that's what you really want, I suppose," Andi chuckled.

"Thanks, Andi!" Lily said, turning her hair purple. Remus dropped his fork in shock.

"Lily," Andi said measuredly, "How long have you been able to do that?"

Lily, suddenly nervous that she had done something wrong, shrugged her shoulders, clutching her rabbit. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered, making her hair red again.

"Nonono, don't be sorry!" Andi exclaimed, reaching over to rub Lily's shoulder, as she sat quivering in the chair next to her. "This is great!"

"It is?" Lily asked. "How?"

"It means you're a metamorphmagus, too," Remus said with a smile. "You're able to change your appearance at will. That's exceptionally rare,"

"Is that why Nakiti thought my eyes were two different colours?" Lily asked, cocking her head towards Remus.

"Probably," Andi said with a smile, "All though to be honest, I'm a bit surprised none of us connected the dots sooner."

"So... you're not mad at me?" Lily asked cautiously. Andi shook her head, her hair going back to brown as she shook it out. "Nope, not even a little bit."

"You're going to have to do a lot worse than that to get Andi mad," Remus joked. "She's the coolest cucumber I know,"

When he said that, miraculously, Lily smiled at him - the first she even remembered smiling. "Andi's not a cucumber," Lily giggled.

Andi, shocked that Lily was not only smiling but laughing, said, "How do you know?" She turned her face green and creased like a cucumber, reaching over at the same time to poke Lily's sides and incite more laughter.

It worked. "I'm a cucumber, too," Lily giggled, changing her face to match her foster mother's as she wiggled out of the way of Andi's tickley fingers.

Remus, who was feeling exceptionally proud of himself and also very happy for the young girl, swooped in and pulled Lily off her chair and onto his lap to help her escape Andi.

Lily tensed up for a moment, and then relaxed again. Andi shared a proud smile with Remus over the table as their young foster child immersed herself in changing into different shapes and animals.

"Look, Andi and Remus! I'm a wolf!" Lily chirped, her voice a few decibels louder than it had ever been. "Rawr!"

Andi laughed and continued to play with Lily across the table, but Remus, who had been jolted out of the cheerful moment by Lily's surprise mention of being a wolf, lost himself in the thought of his furry little secret.


	9. Chapter 9

"Shopping is not as much fun as I thought," Lily grumbled as she pulled on yet another jumper, tugging at the itchy woollen collar.

"Oh, no need to grumble and whine," Andi insisted, tugging the jumper into the right position. "There," she exclaimed, sitting back to admire her handiwork. "You look positively beautiful, Lily,"

Lily turned to examine herself in the mirror as well, scrutinizing her appearance, changing her face and her hair until she settled on the right look for the sweater.

"Maybe I do like shopping," she murmured to herself.

A smile crept over Andi's face as she studied her young charge, thinking back over the past three weeks that this girl had been in her care and how much she had changed and thrived under some TLC.

"Good, I'm glad," Andi said, pulling the next jumper off the change room hook and handing it to Lily. "But either way, you need clothes. Remember, it's thanksgiving next weekend, so you have to look nice. You're going to meet Nymphadora,"

"I remember," Lily said with a small smile as she posed with the next jumper in front of the mirror. "I'm so excited; I've never had an older sister before, even if she is just a foster sister. Do you think she'll like me?"

"Of course she'll like you!" Andi declared, then continued in a slightly softer tone when she saw Lily jump back in fear from the forceful tone. "You can practise your reading with her,"

Lily looked up from the mirror at Andi. "Will she even want to listen to my reading?" the now green-haired girl asked nervously.

"Yes, she will," Andi smiled, mussing up Lily's neon hair and watching it change back to the ginger that she usually kept it ever since Andi had told her how similar the shade was to her mother's. "In fact, when we get home you can practise your quillwork by writing her a letter and ask her yourself."

Lily shrugged, "Ok, I will." Then, upon turning back to the mirror, exclaimed, "I like this outfit! Can I keep it?"

The outfit in question was a pale blue chunky knitted jumper overtop a white button down shirt, purple tie, a black skirt, black opaque tights and dark combat boots, of all things. Andi sighed and went with it, figuring they matched the outfit well enough and Lily loved them so much.

"Of course," Andi said, gathering up all the other clothes they had decided to buy. "I was just about to say how much I liked that outfit, too. Come on, let's go ask to wear it out. You're never wearing that hideous sweater again if I have something to say about it,"

* * *

After shrinking the new clothes to fit in her handbag, Andi said to Lily, "Want to do a bit more shopping while we're here?"

Lily, looking wide-eyed at the bustling street, nodded vigorously, her eyes turning purple seemingly of their own will.

"So, where should we go first?" Andi grinned down at her foster daughter, who beamed back up at her mischievously. "The candy shop!"

"The candy shop? But we haven't had lunch yet!" Andi pulled Lily in and tickled her ribs, causing giggles to erupt from the tiny girl. "Plea-he-hease?"

"Alright," Andi said, relenting. "As long as you promise not to ruin your appetite,"

* * *

After a quick visit to Honeyduke's, the two girls wandered around aimlessly, each munching on a liquorice wand while they had a crazy hair contest, which ensued challenging the other to create more ridiculous hair than the other. Nothing was off limits; including spikes, stripes, polka dots and an array of neon colours.

Besides being a fun game, the contest was actually a great way for young metamorphmagi to practise controlling and honing their skills. Playing it with Lily gave Andi a wave of nostalgia as she remembered playing the same game with her first daughter, Dora.

Walking down the street, Lily suddenly noticed a broom shop and was instantly entranced. "Can we go in there?" she asked breathlessly, pulling Andi along behind her to go check out the shop.

"Woah," Lily blurted once they were inside the shop. "Andi, can I try a broom?" Andi, after some deliberation, decided Lily could. "But be very careful!" Andi told her. Lily nodded vigorously in obedience, so Andi called over one of the shop workers. "Can she try out a broom, please?"

The pimply teen nodded, asking, "What are you guys looking for?"

Lily shrugged; Andi was nearly as clueless herself. "What do you recommend? It's her first time flying, but I'm also hoping for a broom she can grow into and use for a long time,"

Just then, Andi felt a tug on her sleeve. "What is it, Lily?" she asked down to a suddenly worried-looking Lily. "Aren't brooms expensive?"

"Yes, of course they are," Andi said. "Why?"

Lily bit her lip nervously. "I just wanted to try one; I didn't want to make you spend so much money on me," she said quietly.

Andi grinned kindly down at her young charge. "Don't worry about it in the slightest, little flower. Consider it a belated birthday present, since I missed your real one,"

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Lily asked with wide, innocent eyes. Andi's heart melted at the girl's sweetness. She reached down and mussed Lily's hair. "Anything for you," Andi said, and Lily practically radiated happiness.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanksgiving weekend came almost too quickly, and Lily was very, very nervous.

Not only was she going to meet her older foster sister for the first time, but apparently the Tonks family had been invited to the Weasly family thanksgiving dinner, which was tomorrow night - one day after Nymphadora came home.

"Breathe, Lily, breathe," Andi tried to calm her young foster daughter down as she paced back and forth in her room.

Lily's hair, which Andi had loosely braided down the side of her head, cycled rapidly through a string of neon colours, though it miraculously stayed in its braid. It had popped out and gone crazy textures three times already.

"What if she doesn't like me? What if the Weasleys hate me? What if I never make any friends my own age? What if I never make any friends at all? What if-"

Andi grabbed Lily's shoulders and gently forced her to stop pacing and make eye contact. "Lily."

Lily stared back up, one eye green and one eye slowly turning from purple to brown, both eyes large and innocent. "What?"

"Everything is going to be fine. Ok? I need you to trust me on that," Andi said. pulling the young girl in for a hug.

Lily automatically tensed up, then forced herself to relax and sink into the hug. Although she had gotten much, much better at social cues over the past month of foster care with the Tonks, she still had trouble tolerating touch even from Andi and Remus, and usually refused direct contact with others.

Just then, Remus popped into the room. "Time to go to the station," he smiled. "Everyone ready to go and pick up your new foster sister?"

At these words, Lily forgot all anxiousness and gasped excitedly. "Yesyesyesyesyes!" she cried, bounding over to him and jumping up and down to release the sudden excited energy.

"You have Robert?" Andi asked. Lily held up her white stuffed rabbit in response, who was beginning to look a bit beat up from being carried around everywhere, though still loveable and fluffy.

"Alright then, time to go,"

* * *

Lily looked around the train station in awe, her eyes alight. As with every new place she went, there were so many new sights and sounds and smells overloading her senses after the years of isolation living in her barren room, and Lily couldn't get enough of it.

Slightly confused, she asked her guardians, "Isn't this a muggle train station?"

Remus nodded, and whispered down to her secretly. "We're going to a special secret platform: wizards only,"

Lily's eyes bugged out, bright with wonder. and turned purple. "Woah," she breathed. Looking around, she asked, "I don't _see_ any secret platforms,"

"Well," Andi smiled teasingly at her, "It wouldn't be a very good secret if you could see it, now would it?"

Lily cocked her head, thinking on that. "I suppose that makes sense," she decided. "So where is it?"

"Right this way, my impatient little cub," Remus said, pointing to a brick wall in between station platforms 9 and 10.

Lily stuck a blue tongue out at him cheekily. "Har dee har, Remus," she said, her tongue shifting back to red. "Seriously, where is it?"

"He's being serious," Andi said. "It's through that wall,"

Remus grinned. "Station 9 and 3/4, right this way." And with that said, he ran at the wall.

Lily gasped. "Remus!" she cried, but instead of hitting the wall and coming down hard, he... vanished.

Lily's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "Where did he go?!" She asked Andi. "Right through that wall, like he said. It's enchanted," her foster mother responded.

Lily gulped. Even though she had just seen Remus do it, Lily still did not want to run at the wall. Andi seemed to sense her fear. "We'll go through it together, ok?"

Lily nodded. "Ok,"

Once she gave her consent, Andi scooped Lily up into her arms and straddled the small girl on her hip before rushing at the wall. Lily closed her eyes, embracing impact... but none came.

A train whistle blared out, and Lily opened her eyes to a whole new station. "Woah," she exclaimed. Witches and wizards rushed around, dressed in both muggle-style street clothes and more formal robes.

Most of the robes had the official Hogwarts emblem on them, and Lily picked out the four different colours of ties and hats that she remembered symbolized the four different Houses.

"Ravenclaw, slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff," she recounted to Andi, who was still carrying her, pointing out each different colour as they passed, and changing her hair colour to match.

Since she was almost completely caught up on all of the muggle studies wizards needed to learn before attending Hogwarts, Andi had tried in vain to slow the learning process by halting formal studies and teaching Lily about things like her future wizarding school, quidditch, and everything else about the wizarding world.

Still, Lily was a quick learner and was already past her age's reading, writing, and maths skills, even though she had only been studying for a month. Andi had also started teaching her other languages such as French and Latin, but Lily absorbed material like a sponge and was already almost fluent and starting to grow bored with schooling.

Soon, Andi thought apprehensively, she would need to find other ways of keeping Lily occupied and challenged.

Andi grinned. "Very good! You're getting quite clever," she praised. "What else can you remember learning about the Houses?"

"Lots!" Lily cheekily replied. "The House animals are Badger for Hufflepuff, Snake for Slytherin, Eagle for Ravenclaw, and.. uh, Griffin for Gryffindor,"

"Close, but..."

"No, wait! Lion for Gryffindor!"

Andi smiled. "There you go. What else?"

As Lily launched into a detailed and factual response about the history of each House, Heads of Houses and famous wizards' accomplishments from each House, as well as the entire Sorting Hat song, Andi half-listened, half-looked around for Remus and her daughter.

Andi spotted Remus holding a trunk by one of the compartments, and though she couldn't see who he was talking to, Andi had a pretty good guess that it was her daughter.

"Great job, Lily," Andi said absently as she pushed her way through the crowd. "That was all correct. I'd be surprised if you don't get in Ravenclaw someday,"

"No it wasn't," Lily said, saucy, "I said Merlin was in Hufflepuff on purpose to see if you were listening,"

Andi, although she knew she should be sterner at the cheek, burst out laughing. "Nakiti was right; you are turning into a spunky little punk," she squeezed Lily's ribcage playfully. "We'll make a Slytherin out of you yet,"

Lily opened her mouth to come up with an even spunkier reply, but her voice caught in her throat when she spotted a teen with purple hair coming over. She instantly recognized Nymphadora and pointed over Andi's shoulder as she squirmed to get down.

Andi put her down and rushed over to her daughter. "Dora!" she said, pulling her teen in for a hug. "Mum, I told you, don't call me that," came the muffled reply as Dora returned the hug. "Call me Tonks,"

Andi rolled her eyes. "But that isn't your name," she said, looking her daughter over. Dora, or Tonks, as she had stubbornly insisted she be called for a while now, had certainly hit her rebellious stage.

Under her untucked Hogwarts robes, she wore a short plaid skirt in her yellow Hufflepuff colours - emphasis on short. Not to mention the tattoos, choker necklaces, and heavy makeup. "Oh, get rid of all that," Andi chastised lightly as she tried vainly to smooth down her daughter's wrinkled robes. "You'll scare Lily,"

Tonks, who was mid eye-roll, sassily sighed, "Fine," and the tattoos and makeup disappeared. Andi sighed as well, but was grateful at least that her daughter was a metamorphmagus - she could have real tattoos otherwise.

"Thank you," Andi smiled in a softer voice as she took her daughter in. Tonks may be sassy, but Andi knew she already had a soft spot for Lily. Tonks had always wanted a sibling when she was Lily's age, making her mother transfigure into a younger face to play "pretend sister".

"I missed you, baby," Andi suddenly said, realizing how long ago that was with a wave of nostalgia. Tonks rolled her eyes, but she softened. "Mum, it's only been six weeks," she said. "Where's Lily?"

"Here," Lily whispered, peeking out from behind Remus, who was standing nearby. Although she was very excited to meet her older foster sister, seeing her in person had filled her with a whole new wave of nerves.

"Hi, Lily," Tonks said with a happy grin. "I know mum told you I'm Nymphadora, but you can call me Tonks,"

Lily furrowed her brow. "Isn't that your last name?"

Tonks nodded. "It is. Anything's better than stupid Dora,"

"I like Dora," Lily said, "But ok. Did you get my letter?"

Tonks grinned. "I did, but it only arrived yesterday, so it was too late for me to reply. I read it on the train ride here," Tonks said, thinking back to the letter. It was positively adorable; written in cute little-kid writing and filled with sweetness and excitement. Lily had even attached a candy and a picture of herself, so Tonks would recognize her.

"I really enjoyed it. Think you can send me more of those for the rest of the year?"

Lily beamed with delight. "Of course! I'll write to you every day!" she declared, ecstatic that Tonks had liked the letter. "Did you like the picture? Andi's been teaching me about magic photography," she told Tonks, who listened and reacted with appropriate amounts of excitement, as she was also an avid photographer.

As the family walked out of King's Cross and headed outside to apparate home, Lily and Tonks chattered on about RP vs FM pictures and other technicalities about magic cameras and muggle cameras and so much else that even Andi lost them.

While Andi knew the difference between RP and FM (Repeating Photo, which was a picture where the movement was a filmed action that repeated itself in the picture over and over and was used in magazine ads and polaroids, and Free Moving photos which were pictures that interacted in real time and live subjects came and left the frame) Lily had quickly taken more of a shining to photography than Andi ever would.

Which, Andi noticed, was very similar to Tonks. In fact, the two girls were very similar, almost as if they were blood sisters.

Already the girls were laughing and entertaining themselves as they walked, making literal duck faces by metamorphmasizing bills and beaks onto their faces as they chatted about a whole host of things. Smiling to herself as she watched them, Andi knew the girls would get along famously.


	11. Chapter 11

Sometime later after the children had finished their game of quidditch and tracked mud all through the house coming in before going upstairs to play, the mothers got to talking as they cleaned the dishes from dinner.

"That was a lovely dinner," Andi told Molly gratefully. "Thanks so much for inviting us. I'm glad Lily could have such a nice first thanksgiving,"

"So how long have you been fostering Lily?" Molly asked, modestly trying to change the subject from her cooking. "Just about a month," Andi said, "though I was her social worker for two months or so before that."

Molly raised her eyebrows. "She's adjusted remarkably well for such a short period of time,"

"Well," Andi shrugged with a smile, "I like to pride myself on my parenting talents,"

Molly laughed. "No wonder she's adjusted so quickly, though," she commented as she whisked a bowl with so much energy it was almost violent. "She's quick as a whip, that one,"

Andi beamed like a proud parent, which she supposed she was, thinking about it. "Yeah, she is. She's caught up on all the necessary years of schoolwork in very little time... it can be a bit difficult to find ways to keep her challenged sometimes, since she absorbs information so quickly, but very rewarding overall,"

"Meanwhile my children are still putting their shoes on the wrong way," Molly laughed as Ginny came in, her shoes all tangled up.

Andi watched as Ginny looked up at her mother with her seven-year-old puppy dog eyes to ask for help. Andi smiled to herself, noticing how happy and innocent Ginny looked compared to Lily, whose eyes were full of sadness and wisdom well beyond her years from all she had suffered.

"How is Ginny?" Andi asked once the young girl was on her way again and out of earshot. Molly smiled fondly as she thought of her daughter. "Oh, you know..."

But Molly never got to finish that sentence when suddenly a crowd of red-haired children came rushing into the kitchen. Each of them, for some reason, appeared to be holding a wooden spoon.

"Check it out, mum," one of the ten-year-old twins cried with excitement, "Charlie and Tonks taught us how to duel!"

"With magic?" Molly asked, giving the older children glares. "Are they aware that underage magic is strictly forbidden outside of Hogwarts?"

"It's ok, mum," Ron piped up, holding his spoon victoriously in the air, "they taught us a special way so we won't get caught,"

"We use wooden spoons instead of wooden wands," the other twin declared.

Molly, although she clearly seemed displeased that so many of her spoons had been taken without permission, decided that she couldn't chastise the innocent children for being hoodwinked. Besides, the younger ones were so adorably excited - who was she to take that away from them?

She would make the older children who had caused this do that.

"Alright then, let's see a demonstration," Molly said, her words directed at Charlie and Tonks. "Older kids first,"

The crowd of children and mothers moved into the living room, where Charlie and Tonks squared off. After a count of three, Tonks cried dramatically, "Expelliarmus!" pointing her spoon at Charlie, who subtly dropped his spoon and flung it behind him.

The younger children cheered dramatically. "Alright," Charlie said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Who's next?

Ginny and Lily squared off next. "You go first," Lily said excitedly to her, "and once you do it I'll go," "Ok," Ginny said, happy that she got to go first.

They counted to three, and then Ginny cried, "Expelliarmus!" Lily waited for the spoon to fly from her hand, but it didn't. "Try again," she told Ginny, who looked confused and disappointed.

The younger children murmured, confused, from the sides, while the older ones seemed to be holding back laughter. The mothers just gave each other a knowing look.

"Expelliarmus!" Ginny yelled, waving her spoon dramatically at Lily. "Expelliarmus!" But nothing happened.

Ginny's mouth set in a thin, disappointed line. "Alright," she told Lily. "I can't do it; you try,"

Lily shrugged and pointed her spoon, gathering the courage to shout the spell. She breathed deeply and shut out the noise in the room, trying to pretend all the people weren't there. From the sidelines, Ron asked, "Why isn't it working? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," an unfamiliar voice cried from somewhere in the room.

The crowd parted to show Percy, holding his wand in one hand like a sword as he enunciated his disgust with childish games. He, of course, had been studying, rather than partaking in silly spoon duels. Percy, someday, was going to be prefect and then valedictorian of his year, and that did not come from being fooled into playing with spoons.

"They've tricked you, is what's happened," Percy exclaimed, brandishing his wand as he shoved Ginny out of the way so he could stand in the middle of the room and be seen by all as he made his PSA.

"You can't do magic with wooden spoons!" Percy declared, his wand still pointed dramatically in the air.

And that was when Lily cried, "Expelliarmus!" pointing her spoon at Percy, whose wand went flying out of his hand and across the room.

Lily beamed. "I did it!" she exclaimed proudly, not having heard Percy's dramatic confession.

She looked around with a pleased smile, holding her wooden spoon over her head, but the smile slowly fell from her face as she saw everyone's silent, shocked expressions. "What's wrong?"


	12. Chapter 12

Andi leaned against the door outside Dumbledore's office with her arms crossed as she metamorphosed into her professional face, ready to fight for Lily from any charges that might be pressed against her for the magic she had accidentally done at the Burrow.

The usual crowd who were in charge of Lily's case were there, which consisted of Minister of Magic Fudge, Headmaster Dumbledore, professors Mcgonnagal and Snape, and Andi's supervisor Agent Smith.

"Shall we go in?" McGonnagal asked, gesturing to the door. Andi shook her head, "No, Lily's in there. That's where the Minister told me to floo Lily rather than some cold office at the Ministry." Fudge nodded in approval.

"Alright then," he said, clearing his throat nervously, "Let's get started. The charges here state that Lily Potter performed the Expelliarmus spell underage,"

"It was accidental magic," Andi said defensively.

Fudge said, "Unfortunately, clear usage of a spell is not covered by plea of accidental magic. However, I have already lifted the charges against Potter due to a recommendation of Albus Dumbledore."

Confused, everyone turned to the elderly professor, who simply smiled. "According to eyewitness accounts, I have reason to believe that it was indeed accidental magic, and that Lily was tricked into using the spell by means of a harmless prank,"

"So," Andi asked, taking in that her foster daughter was not being charged, "If Lily isn't in any trouble, why are we here?"

Dumbledore's smile vanished, and Fudge shifted uncomfortably. "Underage magic is a serious thing," Fudge said, "But uncontrolled power is much worse. We need to begin teaching Lily not only how to control her magic, but when to wield the power she has been given,"

"Isn't that what the teaching philosophy at Hogwarts? What makes Lily so special?" Andi asked. She was getting nervous that the Ministry would try and seize Lily from her and lock her up somewhere.

Dumbledore cut in, "There was once another wizard with so much magical ability at such a young age. I have only seen one other who was powerful enough to perform wandless magic,"

"Voldemort," McGonnagal whispered darkly.

Dumbledore nodded, "And that was after years of practise following his graduation. Imagine the power of a girl who can perform such feats at only eight years."

Andi bristled. "How dare you compare my daughter to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" She demanded, insulted and angry.

"Foster daughter," Dumbledore gently corrected, "And it was not a comparison; Lily was raised by him."

"Merlin's beard," Andi said, rubbing her forehead. "Indeed," Fudge said, raising his eyebrows. Everyone stared at each other silently, shocked and confused.

Snape, who had been very quiet until now, cut in, "So are we going to do something about this, or are we just going t sit around twiddling our fingers?"

Andi glared at him, but Dumbledore simply smiled and said, "Thank you for refocusing us, Severus. I do have a suggestion, which is to allow Lily to attend Hogwarts early, where we can properly train her,"

"Absolutely not," Andi and Fudge said at the same time.

Fudge, after a pause, said, "The girl already has one infraction against underage magic, and even though they have agreed to lift the charges the ministry would never agree to rewarding such behaviour by allowing her early access to a wand!"

"Not to mention," Andi continued, "That a girl of eight years old - especially with her emotional traumas - would never be able to handle going off to boarding school! Lily needs a stable home, not tonnes of work forced upon her before her time!"

Dumbledore said, "Well, we can't just leave the girl alone and hope that, in her vulnerable and uncontrolled state, she doesn't harm anyone. Or, more seriously, that Voldemort does not come after her again. I can only assume that is why he took her in the first place,"

Andi paled, flooded with emotions. "I don't plan on letting any harm come to Lily or anyone else around her any time soon," she said icily.

"What about a compromise?" McGonnagal asked, trying to mediate. "Go on," Fudge said.

"Well," the female professor continued, "What if Lily only attends in the day by flooing in through the Headmaster's office in the morning and back home again after school?"

"Works for me," Andi agreed.

McGonnagal continued, "And she will only be enrolled in classes that do not require use of a wand. We have many of those here at Hogwarts,"

Fudge relented at this point as well. "I'm sure I can work something out with the Ministry to allow it. Tell me, what sort of courses do not require the use of a wand that Lily will be placed in?"

"Potions, for example," McGonnagal told him. "We can put Severus in charge of mentoring Lily and making sure she doesn't get killed,"

Snape snarled at her. "I do _not._ Want to be in charge of some Potter brat who thinks she can just waltz into school three years early due to some accidental magic,"

McGonnagal rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Severus, you haven't even _met_ the girl,"

"Neither have you," Snape argued.

McGonnagal pursed her lips. "No, but I have heard that she is the spitting image of her mother,"

Snape continued to snarl but ceased to argue.

"I suppose it's settled, then," Dumbledore filled the sudden silence that had taken over the room. "Let's go see if our young magical genius is willing to participate in our plan,"

* * *

Lily gulped, not looking up from her quivering knees as she waited for the grown ups to come into the room and talk to her.

Lily was in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, and on any other occasion, she'd be thrilled. This was Tonks' school - and someday it would be her school too! Lily felt that she should be collecting information on the magical place to impress her older foster sister later.

Not to mention, the magnificently large office that she had been flooed into from the Weasley's house was filled with all sorts of magical trinkets that Lily would usually be delighted to explore.

Unfortunately, right now she was preoccupied with the ball of anxiety in her gut from accidentally going against the rules and doing underage magic.

Excuses flitted through Lily's brain, that she hadn't meant to, that she didn't even know she _could_ do magic without a wand, but she shooed them away, not wanting to beg and whine and make everything worse than it already was.

Lily really, _really_ hoped that she wouldn't be punished, since she really hadn't meant to do magic, but all the memories of her dad came flooding back to her and made Lily quake with fear.

Suddenly, she heard the door open behind her and jumped at the sound, though she didn't look up.

Andi came in and sat down next to Lily, as well as an elderly and commanding man that Lily recognized as Professor Albus Dumbledore from the chocolate frog card she had of him in her collection.

"Lily Potter, I presume," he said, peering down at her with twinkling eyes that he gently forced into her lowered line of sight. "Lemon drop?"

Lily, confused, looked up to see the Headmaster holding out a candy towards her invitingly. It looked good, but Lily instantly suspected poison - or a trap. If Lily took the food, would he punish her? That's what her dad would have done.

Andi, noticing Lily's apprehension, reached over and gave her shoulder a delicate squeeze. "You can take it, Lily," she said with a gentle smile. "It's just a candy,"

Tentatively, Lily took the candy from Dumbledore and put it in her mouth. Her eyes widened and her hair turned electric green as the sweetly tart flavour spread over her taste buds.

"Don't you like it?" Dumbledore asked, his bright eyes shining. Lily shook her head vigorously. "It's delicious," she said honestly, for it was. She was still too frightened to ask for another one, though.

Dumbledore nodded his approval. "They're my favourite candies. Now, onto business," he said, and Lily's fear, which had been slowly ebbing away, came rushing back.

"I understand there has been a slight... incident with a spoon?"

Lily nodded, wordless. _Please don't hurt me too much, please don't hurt me,_ she thought.

"Excellent," said the professor, "I quite like spoons,"

Lily raised an eyebrow, her skin turning dark brown, which was her version of blushing.

Dumbledore continued, "I am aware that you did not do underage magic on purpose, so you are in no trouble and have nothing to fear,"

Lily looked up at him. "I'm not?" she squeaked, altogether confused and exhausted with the whole ordeal of the evening. "But... but I went against the rules!"

"A minor infraction. That is not why you are here tonight," said Dumbledore, munching thoughtfully on a lemon drop.

Lily paled, her whole body trembling. "Why am I here, then?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

Andi, seeing Lily so scared, pulled her young charge onto her lap and wrapped her in a giant hug to assuage her fears. "You're not in trouble for anything," Andi murmured to Lily, and Lily snuggled into the hug, grateful for Andi's kindness, even if she did not quite believe her foster mother's statement.

"Well," replied Dumbledore, "I wanted to inquire you about taking some lessons here at Hogwarts."

Lily cocked her head. "What sort of lessons?" She could hear her father screaming at her about needing to teach her a lesson, but she pushed the memory away out of curiosity.

"Unfortunately, the ministry has not accepted my plea to allow you early access to a wand," Dumbledore said, "But there are still quite a few classes here at Hogwarts where not having a wand would not be a problem. I understand you have already completed your preliminary studies?"

Lily nodded. "I've gone ahead," she boasted. "Andi says I'm hard to find challenges for,"

A faint smile played over Dumbledore's lips. "I'm sure we could find you something here at Hogwarts. If you want, we could have you enrolled in first year Potions and Herbology, Beginner Flying and third year Care of Magical Creatures, as well as some of the older years elective courses such as Arithmancy and Divination,"

Lily's eyes widened as she took in the information. "That sounds wicked," she said, using the catch phrase Ron had taught her earlier. "When can I start?"


End file.
